Reply With QuoteAwesome article.
As barely literate talking heads continue to replace journalists, sports fans can expect to see more and more of the Stephen A. Smith's unfortunately.
Substance Will Silence Criticism
By Kori Ellis
SpursZONE.com
www.woai.com/spurs/story....66CEB2BE53
Stephen A. Smith, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist and ESPN NBA analyst, has taken his share of digs at the San Antonio Spurs in the past, calling the team dull and ridiculing the squad’s workmanlike demeanor.
Whether it’s his insistence on pointing out the obvious drop-off between All-Everything David Robinson and Rasho Nesterovic or his constant ridicule of the Spurs’ supporting cast, his exasperatingly over the top commentating is always the same song. Sometimes he just decides to change the chorus.
In his column in Sunday's Inquirer, Smith was again singing his same old tune. In his piece praising Michael Jordan and his impact on the league, Smith writes, "Duncan, as great as he is, is just too boring and lacking in charisma for anyone outside of San Antonio to care."
Though it's true that no one will ever be able to replace His Airness, his shot at Duncan tells more about Smith than anything. In a time where being louder and more controversial is the fad, especially in the entertainment field, Smith’s style pays no mind to substance. The bigger the story and the more contentious the situation, the more likely Smith will latch on for the ride.
Winning alone doesn’t equal ratings and ESPN knows this. Thus it is no mistake that Smith and the character that is “Stephen A. Smith” (something along the lines of Shaft meets Gilbert Godfrey) has moved to the forefront of ESPN’s basketball coverage. The knowledge that was David Aldridge was no match for style that is Stephen A. Smith.
The Spurs, led by Duncan, have always stressed substance. You don’t see them with internal discord requiring the investigating of one Jim Gray or showing up on the local crime blotter. The Spurs win … quietly. That recipe, as we know, doesn’t jive well with Smith.
As the Detroit Pistons picked apart the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals, Smith was there screaming at the camera trying to tell us that the Lakers would still pull it out. He was riding the bandwagon in style, letting his opinion be known to anyone who’d listen.
A funny thing happened on the way to championship for the Lakers. The Pistons, a team in the same mold of the Spurs, outclassed them with substance. A lesson well learned, Mr. Smith?
Apparently not.
Yes, we know that Duncan isn’t the loudest of leaders. Yes, we know that the Spurs don’t excite you. And while you may not “care” about Duncan and the Spurs, you may want to check out the team in San Antonio. Substance, more times than not, defeats style. The Spurs have as much substance as any team in the league.
You’ll learn one way or another. That is, however, if ESPN hasn’t already moved on to the next fad. You see Mr. Smith, style can only parade around as substance for so long before it rains.
Awesome article.
As barely literate talking heads continue to replace journalists, sports fans can expect to see more and more of the Stephen A. Smith's unfortunately.
Whoah go Kori. Nice one.
Very nice. That's the right article at the right time.
SAS has always had something against players that aren't "black" enough. I really think it's a race issue with him.
something along the lines of Shaft meets Gilbert Godfrey
Stephen A. Smith is irritating to a lot of fans and that is apparently his ticket to the show.
His reporting during the Olympics was nothing more than bravado. With him, it's all really bravado with nothing inside to back it up. The most recent facial Stephen A. received was after he declared that Argentina had nobody to match the US besides Ginobili and that they wouldn't be able to stay on the court with team USA ("who else....do...they...have...?" smirk)
I doubt that SAS will understand a concept of substance over style.
Very well said nontheless!
Bravo.
Unfortunately, as long as people watch, it doesn't matter. This NBA season is shaping up to be a very interesting and successful one, particularly when it comes to "Shaq vs. Kobe", and ESPN's NBA programs will likely see positive results. And I can't remember the last time an analyst was fired by a network whose ratings were on the rise...
I say it is poor.
There is no reason to get in a petty, journalistic war with SAS. Most of what he says is for shock factor and he probably doesnt believe most of it.
He is trolling for hateful comments - dont feed the troll.
When writing like that - and I did it a lock back in the day - all you are looking for is the negative feedback. Most writers get tons more negative feedback than positive feedback, and guys like SAS and Bill Walton (and me back in the day) feed off of it.
If SAS reads this, he will laugh, because he got out of you exactly what he wanted. Don't acknowledge him - don't give any credit to his thoughts, and don't let him get under your skin. Thats what he is trying to do - not talk about basketball.
:served
nice article, hopefully the word will get out nationally.
amazing article.
wonder if the idiot will ever see it.
It's not about SAS. It's about writing something that your audience would enjoy reading. And based upon the response the article has received in this thread alone, I would say that her readers enjoyed it.I say it is poor.
There is no reason to get in a petty, journalistic war with SAS. Most of what he says is for shock factor and he probably doesnt believe most of it.
If nobody told the other side of the story due to fear of getting into a tiff with another journalist, we would only get a limited number of different perspectives.
I consider this to be within the accepted journalistic standard of presenting an alternative viewpoint.
Was there a personal dig directed at SAS at the end? Sure, but the article is for Spurs fans to enjoy. And since Spurs fans generally don't like SAS, it will generally be liked.
I for one will change the channel if the buffon is on. If he is going to be on espn telecasts, i'll be sure not to watch.
Stephen A. Smith x-ray.
I'm just glad TNT picked up Aldridge...
SAS has as much credibility as Laker Lanny.
I think Stephen A Smith is pretty damn good commentator. He may not know much about substance...but god damn does he make me laugh when he clowns on people.
Him clowning on Slava Medvedenko when he tried to punk Rasheed Wallace in the Finals was simply classic.
excellent article kori...i wish this could get some national play, that ass-clown SAS's gimmicks will hopefully backfire on him sometime soon
You let it go in one ear...and out the other.
Great article.
Thanks to everyone for their comments.
As for being seen nationally, most of my articles are. The majority of the articles I write for SpursZONE are linked on Spurs.com or other sites.
I don't really care if SAS sees it or not. That wasn't really the point. He's funny sometimes, but his jokes/bags on S.A. are always the same -- I feel like some heckler should yell out "Hey, get some new material." I also think David Aldridge is great and think it's a shame that he's not a writer/analyst for ESPN anymore.
Ex already beat me to it, butsomething along the lines of Shaft meets Gilbert Godfrey
Great article, Kori!
I wonder if SAS will change his tune because the Lake show is no longer the same show.
Personally, I think he tries to be like Chris Rock and a bad one at that.
Kori did exactly what Smith did. Used an public forum to voice an opinion. She has that right, as does he. The major difference between Kori and him is(aside from about 2 billion more brain cells) while Kori has her favorite team, she is not afraid to call them out. Smith kisses up to a team and blindly keeps his lips planted.
Well done, Kori.
Enterainment purposes, Smith does the job. Credibility wise, no he doesn't. He's trying to mix two different styles, and in his case it doesn't work. Either you stay on one end or the other. Right now he's doing that "Dream Job" thing on ESPN, trying to show others now how it should be done I guess.
Will he see Kori's article? Probably not, but those "in the know" already know how credible she is and how slowly uncredible Smith is becoming.
But is style really better than substance?
ESPN thinks so certainly and thats why the TNT coverage has just gotten that much better. While TNT has a lot of style, they have the substance to back it up generally, unlike ESPN. Their studio crew is sickening to watch for one.
Great read Kori.
About time someone called that asshat out.
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